SALISBURY, Md. - Members of the Preservation Trust of Wicomico are working towards adding 11 new informational signs around the city, in an effort to help preserve its deep history.
In the fall of 2024, the organization worked to put up a plaque outside of the courthouse in downtown Salisbury in commemoration of Frederick Douglass speaking there in the past.
"I just thought it was incredible that he spoke here, and we wanted to be sure that everybody knew that he had been here," said Preservation Trust of Wicomico President, Aleta Davis.
With the help of the organization, the City of Salisbury, and donors, 11 more locations have been approved for signage. Of these, one sign will go up at the Port Exchange to commemorate Handy's Landing where ships came into the harbor beginning back in the 1703s, one on Main Street to commemorate Humphrey's Pond that filled that area before the dam broke in 1909, and across the street from TidalHealth's Salisbury Campus, to commemorate Camp Wallace. While the Salisbury Signs Committee wants to have a few of the signs up before the Maryland 250 this summer, there is one hurdle they still have to jump: funding.
"The signs are about $2,700 a piece at this time, and they could be going up by the day. We don't know," said Davis.
The organization has received a few grants, including from the City of Salisbury. The Preservation Trust plans to hold a few historical speaker events, hosted by Dr. Ray Thompson, a former history professor at Salisbury University.
"So often people know very little about the history of the area in which they live," said Thompson. "That's the case in Salisbury, certainly."
